This project concerns the isolation and chemical structure determination of phenolics, alkaloids, pigments, quinones and terpenoids in higher plants in order: 1. to establish the patterns of distribution of these natural products for understanding plant evolution, speciation and gene-flow among populations; 2. to understand the ecological role of such compounds, especially in terms of plant-insect and plant-mammal co-evolution; and 3. to determine the physiological and biological properties of the natural products, including antibiotic, contact dermatitis and antitumor activity. The research also concerns correlating micro- and macromolecular chemical patterns with electron microscopically-determined features of higher plants, especially betalains and sieve-element plastids in the Centrospermae and protein-accumulating cells, dilated cisternae of the endoplasmic reticulum and glucosinolates in the Capparales. We are also concerned with the isolation and chemical characterization of mouse primer pheromones which induce percocial puberty in immature female mice.